


New Hopes

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M, new years eve fic, werewolf Ricky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 22:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9145726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Ricky and Nathalie spend new year's eve in a rather different way.





	

Starlight glimmered on the water that stretched between South Hoof and Fort Pinta. Nathalie sighed peacefully, enjoying the beautiful sight and the tranquil night air. Fort Pinta was illuminated brightly by spotlights shining onto the sand-coloured walls. From this distance, it looked like a sandcastle. Nathalie had always longed to visit that place, but she’d always been too busy. That might change soon, though. If next year was as good as she hoped it would be.

“I wish you could be here, Ricky,” said Nathalie. “It’s so beautiful, and I hear that there are some new fireworks next year.”

“Nat, you know I can’t,” came his voice from the phone that she had sitting on the grass next to her.

“I know,” said Nathalie, looking mournfully at the full moon that sat among the stars. Sure, it would make an excellent backdrop for the fireworks, but it also prevented her boyfriend from being there with her.

“Remember to take photos and videos,” said Ricky. 

“I will,” said Nathalie. “I just wish we could have our new years kiss.”

“That’s impossible tonight,” said Ricky with a chuckle. Nathalie laughed along with him. Of course it had to be a full moon on the most romantic night of the year. And Ricky always loved the fireworks, but his wolf form shied away from the loud noises. So he was at home, hiding in the bedroom. He did have the TV turned on with the sound off, though. And, of course, there was his phone on loudspeaker sitting on the bed in front of him. One large, furry ginger paw rested beside the phone which displayed Nathalie’s picture.

“The one downside to you being a werewolf,” said Nathalie. “That and the fur everywhere.” Ricky laughed.

“I can hardly believe I’m still here,” said Ricky. “Just over a year ago, I almost wasn’t here.”

“We have help now,” said Nathalie. “If you do well in this competition, anyway.”

“Well, like you said, we have help now,” said Ricky. “Louisa is helping me train, you’re keeping me motivated and giving me something to fight for, and even Jessica has been sparring with me.”

“Oh, Ricky, that’s great!” said Nathalie. “And I know you’d be off running if it weren’t for all the fireworks.”

“Some of our neighbours have started already,” said Ricky. Nathalie heard a small explosion echoed in the phone, followed by Ricky’s whine as colourful lights rose above the houses.

“I can only imagine how your aunt and uncle are handling it,” said Nathalie. 

“Probably the same way,” said Ricky. “I heard my aunt cancelling her meetings earlier this week, and my uncle went inside pretty early.”

“At least you had a lot of time to prepare,” said Nathalie.

“That’s true,” said Ricky. They continued chatting while time ticked by, and Nathalie was glad for the phone that her mother had given her. The battery never seemed to run out, and when it did, one charge would have it charged for weeks no matter what she used her phone for.

“Should I hang up?” asked Nathalie when the countdown began.

“I can handle it,” said Ricky.

“Okay,” said Nathalie. She tapped into her phone’s video recording app and held the phone up.

“Happy new year,” Ricky whispered, and Nathalie could imagine how his ears flattened against the loud noises.

“Happy new year, Ricky,” said Nathalie. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” said Ricky. She could still hear his breathing on the other end of the phone, and she could imagine him trembling.

The light display was gorgeous, filling Nathalie with a sense of happiness for the year before. Things had changed for the better in that year. Ricky was back to normal, his chipper, over-confident self. For the first time since this whole mess had started, Nathalie felt positive about the future. The next year seemed as bright as the full moon above.

“Any resolutions?” asked Nathalie when the loud noises had finally died away. She could hear the cheering crowd from Fort Pinta all the way over here.

“Win,” said Ricky. “And treat my girlfriend more.”

“I like the sound of that,” said Nathalie. “And I’ll try to make time for my loved ones more. If I told the Bulldogz I wanted to spend more time with you, they’d all leap at the chance to help out.”

“So why haven’t you done that already?” asked Ricky.

“I felt guilty,” said Nathalie. “It’s like I’m using you to get out of work.”

“Well, we’ll both enjoy it, so I don’t see how it would be a bad thing,” said Ricky. “You should definitely do that.”

“A new year’s date?” asked Nathalie.

“Sounds good to me,” said Ricky. “So, I’ll see you when you get home?”

“I should probably leave now, actually,” said Nathalie. “The wild ponies were spooked by all the fireworks, so I’d better leave now before I get trampled. Speaking of which, I should probably check on the horses in the stable too.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Ricky. “Hopefully nobody got hurt in all the fright.”

“Well, the only neighing I can hear is on this peninsula, so it should be okay,” said Nathalie. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

Nathalie smiled to herself while she walked across the windswept grass and onto the arching bridge. Normally, her and Ricky went across to Fort Pinta to take part in the New Year’s Eve disco and watch the fireworks. But this year, because of the lunar cycle, that just couldn’t happen. But that was okay. After all, they’d had plenty of warning- Ricky always kept up to date on the lunar cycle, so they’d had plenty of time to plan out how they would spend their New Year’s Eve.

And it really wasn’t that bad. Ricky was safe and comfortable at home, they had video of the fireworks, and they’d been able to talk to each other all night. And, Nathalie knew that as soon as Ricky was human again, he’d kiss her countless times to make up for the lack of a new year’s kiss. He was adorably romantic that way.


End file.
